The City of Good Neighbors is More Than Wings, the Buffalo Bills, and Snow

When the Points Pursuit was announced, I was delighted to learn that I’d be hosting two Daily Drop team members – the lovely Erin and Brendan – here in Buffalo. I love showing off Buffalo to unsuspecting visitors.  

People often come in with a limited idea of what the city is (see article title) and are pleasantly surprised to discover that it has so much more to offer.  

Buffalo’s moniker is the City of Good Neighbors for Buffalonians’ friendliness, strong sense of community spirit, and the warm welcome that we give to visitors.

I was determined to showcase that, and if I do say so myself, Brendan and Erin did remark quite a few times on how nice people were throughout their visit. 🤝 

I’ll be honest – I was more excited to show them around than I was about gamifying the challenge. And tbh, that showed in my results.  

My strategy? I simply used the right card for the right type of purchase.  

That’s my regular earning method, and frankly, I have more points than I know what to do with at any given time. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, amiright??  

I hope my effort shows that you can still easily rack up points using just a few key cards.  

The Hotel: InnBuffalo  

I knew the hotel expense would be one of the biggest ones during the visit. At first, I went for the logical option and used my The World of Hyatt Credit Card to book the Hyatt Regency in downtown Buffalo. I racked up 9x on the $224/night room, netting 2,016 points with that single purchase. Sorted.

Or… not.

Sadly (for me), the filming schedule had to be changed, and the hotel was entirely booked for my new date. What exactly was going on in downtown Buffalo on a Monday night, I’ll never know.

I did know this: boo hoo me.

And after this happened, I fully leaned into the experiential side of this challenge, aiming to show them the best of my city, no matter what, points be damned. (Oops.) 

My next thought was to book them at the Richardson Hotel, a gorgeously restored historic landmark, and my favorite building in the city architecturally.  

There was just one tiny caveat that caused Brendan to veto staying there: it used to be a psychiatric hospital. And Brendan is a strictly no-ghosts man. (I couldn’t resist taking them here on the way to the hotel that I actually booked them at – you can see their reactions in the video.)  

 Okay… maybe it’s a little bit spooky (that’s what I love about it).   

Finally, I landed on the winner: InnBuffalo, a stunning Victorian mansion that’s been converted into a charming bed and breakfast. It’s in the heart of Buffalo’s Elmwood Village, a lovely historic neighborhood that I planned to show them anyway. A win all around.  

Plus, Brendan and Erin’s reaction upon walking in was priceless.  

Hotel Stay: $174 for the night x 4X for booking directly with my Chase Sapphire Reserve® = 697 points earned. (I did leave some points on the table here…more on that in the recap section at the end.) 

Day 1: A Whirlwind Tour of Buffalo  

The big day finally arrived, and I excitedly picked them up at the airport. I was the first contestant, so we were all figuring it out as we went. Also, having just joined the Daily Drop team a few months prior, it was my first time meeting members of the team, which made their visit all the more special.  

With just 24 hours to showcase the city, we hit the ground running from the moment I picked them up at the airport.

First stop: wings at the Bar-Bill, one of the city’s most famous wing spots. (Insider intel: the Anchor Bar allegedly was first to serve wings, but these days, it’s become more of a tourist attraction than where locals go for their wings.) 

Points Earned: 58x4 (the American Express® Gold Card earns 4x at restaurants worldwide, up to $50,000 per calendar year) = 232 points for this meal.  

After a whirlwind get-to-know-you over wings, beef-on-weck, pretzel sticks, and loganberry (a beverage I’ve only ever seen in the Buffalo area), we headed to none other than Niagara Falls.

They didn’t know the itinerary beforehand, and Erin was delighted that we’d be visiting one of the wonders of the world. (I mean… how could we not??)  

Turns out, the month of April is the perfect time to visit. There were none of the crowds or lines like in the summer, and we walked right up to the thundering cascades of water.

That’s one of the things I love about seeing Niagara Falls from the American side: you can get up close and personal. There are more walking trails, and it’s a more nature-filled experience than the more built-up Canadian side (though if you have time to do both, bring your passport and cross over to the Canadian side for the panoramic views.) 

Points Earned: $10 parking x 1x (I had a total brain fart and forgot that my Sapphire Reserve no longer earns 3x on travel and used it… see even we make mistakes sometimes!) + $42 entry tickets x 1.5x (my Chase Freedom Unlimited® earns 1.5x on all purchases) = 10 + 63 = 93 points for this activity.  

While we were walking around taking in the views, Brendan mentioned something that stopped me in my tracks: he, an avid coffee drinker, had not had even a single cup that day. And he had gotten up early to fly here and everything.  

As a fellow coffee addict, I was truly alarmed. We still had so much on the agenda! Get this man some caffeine, STAT!  

The closest coffee shop would’ve been a Tim Hortons, and even though most Buffalonians are die-hard fans, I could not abide by taking them to a chain when Buffalo has so many excellent independent coffee shops.  

So I took them to one of my favorites: Raha, a Yemeni coffee house. Yemen is the birthplace of coffee as a beverage, meaning the country has a rich tradition of coffee-making that goes back centuries.  

It’s no wonder they’re so damn good at it.  

I aimed to hit two birds with one stone here: a) get us caffeinated, b) showcase Buffalo’s diverse population.

Buffalonians are very proud of our status as one of the largest refugee resettlement cities in the nation, and there is a vibrant Yemeni community here.  

The coffee was excellent, and it was strong. Brendan and Erin both reported the next morning that they’d been wired until 1 am. Oops. (Sorry guys. But also, no regrets.)  

Points earned: $22 x 4 (Amex Gold earns 4x on restaurants) = 88 points for coffee.  

Properly caffeinated, we finally made our way to their hotel, taking the long way round to point out some key sights on the way. After dropping bags at the hotel and taking a full tour (complete with oohs and ahhhs at how beautiful it was), we headed out for the second part of the day.

Buffalo lies on one of the Great Lakes, Lake Erie, and I couldn’t let them leave without seeing it. The waterfront used to be an industrial wasteland, but it’s been transformed in recent years, even becoming a state park. It’s a lovely place to walk, bike, or have an ice cream/drink by the water.

We get some pretty epic sunsets here, and the abandoned silos (that used to hold grain before ships took them further on their way) make for an epic backdrop.

Sunset on the waterfront accomplished, we headed to our final stop of the day: Southern Junction. This James-Beard-nominated restaurant is Buffalo’s most recent belle of the ball. A Texas-Indian fusion BBQ joint (the chef-owner was born in India and raised in Texas), it’s considered by many to be some of the best BBQ in the entire country. (They also have smoked cauliflower and veggie sides for my fellow non-meat eaters.) 

I live nearby, and every weekend there are literal lines out the door for this place. Luckily for us, we walked right in on a Monday night.  

The savory plates delighted us all, and with happily full bellies, we all crashed into our respective beds to recharge for the morning.  

Points earned: $76.29 x 4 (with my Amex Gold) = 304 points on dinner.  

Day 2: A Morning Meander 

The next morning, we met at InnBuffalo’s beautiful terrace. Brendan turned on the camera immediately to ask me a series of rapid-fire “Travel Hot Takes” questions… were my answers hot takes? Idk… you’ll have to watch the video to find out.😝  

After baring my soul on camera (okay, maybe that’s being a little dramatic), we headed for breakfast and coffee at one of my other favorite spots in the city: Tipico Coffee.

They’re the best roaster in town (imho) and just a short walk away from the bed and breakfast. Plus, they have a gorgeous mural out front. 

Points earned: $49.48 x 4 (using my Amex Gold…y’all get the gist by now) = 196 points for breakfast.  

The weather once again held out for us, so we walked down the street the café sits on: Elmwood Ave, a popular street for shopping and going out to eat. We popped into a few places, and I made them try another local delicacy: sponge candy.

It’s a type of melt-in-your-mouth chocolate I’ve only ever seen in the Buffalo area, and their reactions while trying it were hilarious.

Points earned: $7.34 x 4 = 28 points for chocolate.  

Hyped up on sugar, we continued to walk around the historic neighborhood. Buffalo has a beautiful parkway system and five parks designed by none other than Frederick Law Olmsted – the brains behind NYC’s famous Central Park.  

We walked down some of these parkways and admired some of the fanciest addresses in the city. Fun fact: at the turn of the 20^th century, Buffalo had the most millionaires per capita of any city in the U.S. That means a lot of impressive historic mansions, some of which look like literal castles. 😭  

Our time together was nearing its end, and even though we had just eaten not too long ago, I’d planned a lunch stop to send them on their way with full bellies.  

I took them to West Side Bazaar, a food court and incubator space for entrepreneurial chefs to launch their concepts.

Many immigrants and refugees get their start here as they find their footing in Buffalo, which means there’s always a rotating array of delicious cuisines (right now, you could try Congolese, Afghan, Egyptian, Puerto Rican, Korean, and Thai food here).  

As we’d just had a hearty breakfast a couple of hours ago, we weren’t all that hungry, so we just got bubble tea and some snacks as we recapped the past 24 hours.  

Points earned: $35.83 x 4 = 140 points.  

And with that, it was time to bring them to the airport! All in all, a very enjoyable 24 hours, even if I didn’t exactly bring my A-points game…

Full Points Breakdown, Recap & Takeaways 

Here’s how it all shook out:  

Overall, my biggest miss was with the hotel (but what I missed in hotel points, I made up for in word count with this article 🙃).  

I simply did what I always did: booked directly using mySapphire Reserve, earning me 4x on that purchase.

But if I had booked through the Chase Travel℠ portal, I would’ve gotten 8x, netting me 2,192 points instead of 697. I could’ve also looked at Rove, which was offering 10-12x on hotels around Buffalo.  

I’m gonna be so real with you guys, though (even if it’s slightly embarrassing): I hate booking third-party. I never do it. Ever. It just adds another layer should something go wrong. Reservations are more difficult to change when you’re dealing with an intermediary.

Now here, it would’ve been fine to book through a portal (whether Rove or Chase) once the dates were set. There’s less that can go wrong with a hotel booking than a flight (which I absolutely would never book third-party…delays and cancellations are all too common, and getting that sorted out when you’re dealing with a third-party is difficult).  

I’m not often booking with cash (I’m usually getting my stays on points or staying with friends around the world), but this was a good lesson for me to learn.

See? Even we’re still learning. 🫣

Otherwise, you can see that my Amex Gold does a lot of heavy lifting for dining out (I love it because it also earns 4x on groceries, up to $25,000 per calendar year, then 1x but obviously I don’t spend anywhere near that cap) - it’s easily one of my favorite cards. I didn’t even showcase any of the great credits it offers, but you can read more about those in our full card review.  

Anyways, I accomplished my personal goal: impress Brendan and Erin with Buffalo, overturn some misconceptions about the city, and have a fun time getting to know my colleagues. And maybe inspired some of y’all to come to lil ol’ Buffalo? (Go Bills). 🦬